Standard business broadband works for the demands of the early stages of almost all small businesses. It’s faster than home broadband, affordable, and it meets the demands of email, browsing and light cloud based application use. Then things change.
The number of staff may increase. The business may start to rely on cloud based rather than local applications. The nature of the business may lead it to developing outward-facing operations. Whatever the trigger, at some point standard business broadband that had been more than sufficient becomes a choke point in the business’ operations.
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The Symptoms Gradually Develop
Internet connectivity issues are never like a flood that bursts the banks of a dam and overwhelms the building. They develop as a creeping series of nuisance problems that users find workarounds for, before they catch on to the fact that a pattern has developed.
Video calls start to be plagued by drop outs. File uploads to cloud based storage solutions take longer than expected. The office Internet slows down every afternoon as online traffic increases. Employees start to complain that systems are slow or unresponsive, but when troubleshooting attempts are made, the responses show variations that make it difficult to pin the problem down.
These problems are not random. They are the telltale signs of an Internet connection that has become a choke point that the business has outgrown.
User Numbers Matter
Standard business broadband is a contended connection. That means that multiple users on the business’ side share the available bandwidth. This works for the demands of 5 employees in an office. As soon as the numbers start to climb to double or triple figures, and every employee expects to be able to rely on the availability of the Internet in the course of their work, it stops working so well.
The Internet connection may still be theoretically sufficient if usage levels are averaged out over a 24 hour period. The way the business operates does not work that way. Employees all arrive around the same time and start to check their emails. Meetings tend to cluster around the same time of day, spiking usage levels. Monthly reports can create scenarios in which multiple employees need to upload and download large volumes of data to and from reporting tools and source systems.
Standard business broadband was never designed to accommodate this level of usage as business operations grow. That’s when it’s time to move to a commercial isp provider, for better internet and flexibility.
Cloud Usage Increases Bandwidth Requirements
Moving an office onto cloud based systems seems like it should lower the bandwidth requirements of an office. It actually creates an even higher level of dependency.
Every action that users take in a cloud based application requires connectivity. The number of actions that they can take in a day multiplies as soon as there is more than one employee in an office.
Saving reports, downloading data and generating reports all take bandwidth, but these actions are relatively light weight when they are performed by one user. The bandwidth requirements of an office increase exponentially with every new employee whose operations within the office depend on the same Internet connection.
Video calls are particularly heavy on bandwidth usage. One HD video call uses enough bandwidth to max out many standard business broadband connections. Many offices run multiple video calls every workday.
Downtime Takes On A Different Meaning
When an office is small and relatively simple, their operations can absorb a certain level of downtime as a result of Internet connectivity issues. Employees can work on tasks that don’t need Internet connectivity, or they can at least lose a bit of time.
Once companies grow past a certain threshold of complexity, downtime as a result of connectivity issues starts causing real damage to their operation.
Sales transactions can’t be processed, customer service is left offline without access to queries and assistance, and employees can literally not perform their jobs if the systems they rely on are all Internet based.
Standard business broadband connections usually come with no guarantees for operational uptime. The remedies that service providers suggest for being disconnected usually come with no guarantee of a specific time frame for resolution. The solutions can take up to 72 hours to be implemented. Compensation for being disconnected from the service is of little consolation when the remedy is already behind schedule by up to 3 days.
Upload Speeds Matter Too
Most business uses of an Internet connection focus on download speeds, and standard business broadband connection service providers push those numbers hard. A surprising volume of business activity relies on upload speeds being sufficiently high for the requests and actions that the business depends on the employees performing.
Standard business broadband connection often have upload speeds that are an order of magnitude slower than download speeds.
This causes strange bottlenecks in office activities that grow more complex as operations expand past a certain threshold.
One example of an upload speed bottleneck that many growing businesses have experienced is suddenly finding themselves waiting for a presentation that their employee should use in a meeting with their client is taking so long to upload that it takes them 10 minutes to even reach the client’s office.
These speed issues tend to become noticeable just as the processes in cloud based applications multiply and operations in the office become dependent on constant Internet connectivity for work on both directions.
Security Issues Change
Keeping the systems up and running is not the only consideration as companies grow. When security issues develop, they affect businesses at an operational level. The nature of those cases also changes.
When companies are small and relatively simple, any tech or Internet connectivity provider can usually help them solve operational problems.
When issues arise in businesses whose operations are more complex, response times need to be faster. The individuals assisting the users who call them for help with repairs and restoration of services need to understand the context and technical issues underlying their complaints.
Standard business broadband customer service interfaces mean calling help desk numbers, explaining your issue to whoever answers and hoping they get what you are saying well enough to assist you over the phone before they “dedicate” their time to you and start trying to understand your issue well enough to formulate suggestions to assist you with overcoming whatever challenges you are experiencing.
The security features that are built into standard business broadband connections may also fall short when it comes to growing offices and increasing complexity. Basic firewalls block most incoming requests and usually do their job well enough for small businesses whose operations don’t require sharing much data with systems outside the areas they operate in.
Security features that monitor incoming requests for potential threats adapt faster to changing threat landscapes at growing offices whose operations may require sharing sensitive data at all hours with partners in partners in multi-national businesses.
How To Move Forward
Recognizing that standard business broadband is not up to supporting growing businesses is one thing; deciding what to do about it can be a challenge of it’s own.
The transition from standard business broadband connection levels to enterprise-grade solutions is not always a defined leap.
There is no one size fits all answer as to how to move forward from standard business broadband connection to another option. Not every growing business has the same levels of Internet usage or investments available for usage solutions.
It can be helpful to get a sense of the level of usage of and dependency on Internet connectivity solutions; ensure that there is enough functioning infrastructure to support operations. Keep focus on preventing avoidable nuisances from having an impact on operations due to insufficient connectivity solutions for maintaining employee efficiency.